Daily News: The Prophet of Hogwarts

Chapter 1: Intelligence? No, it's a prophecy!

Hogwarts Castle.

A corner of the Ravenclaw common room.

A light blue velvet cloth was spread on the sofa. Ryan Wales was wearing a casual robe. He had stayed up all night at the library and was still a little sleepy this morning. He planned to drink some magic potion to wake himself up.

While I'm at it, I'll pack the items I'll need for the trip, such as different kinds of potions.

It's summer vacation now, and he's homeless, but the headmaster has given him special permission to stay at Hogwarts. So he doesn't plan to change into formal attire; he'll dress however he feels comfortable. He plans to go to the kitchen to get some sizzling lamb chops and toast before heading out on his adventure.

He only got into the kitchen when a kind Hufflepuff man took him there during a nighttime stroll.

Half an hour later, after packing up his belongings, Ryan went to the kitchen and brought back a large plate of lamb chops and toast.

Half an hour later, Ryan, with a stiff smile on his face, sat back on the sofa after having his house-elf take away the food. He faced a young man who claimed to be a reporter from the Daily Prophet.

The Daily Prophet, the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic, is a behemoth that he needs to take seriously at this stage.

Of course, Ryan's stiff smile wasn't because he was uncomfortable with the interview; it was purely because the reporter's gaze was strange, not like he was looking at an interviewee, but more like he was looking at a moving breaking news story.

He himself was caught off guard by the reporter in the Ravenclaw common room.

A reporter who can enter Hogwarts must have been granted permission, which puzzled Ryan and made him cautious, forcing him to handle the situation carefully.

The reporter's eyes shone brightly, as if he could see a promotion and a raise, and the sketching quill next to him trembled slightly, eager to try it out.

"Mr. Wells, as the most famous prophet in the wizarding world today, what are your thoughts on other diviners and prophets in the wizarding world?"

The reporter immediately launched into sharp questions, employing the art of comparison and denigration with masterful skill. Whatever Ryan said next, his shorthand quill would likely record it in a peculiar way.

That method was truly wondrous. Ryan, his mind racing, caught a glimpse of the quill pen writing rapidly on the parchment:

Lane Welsh looked down on other so-called prophets and diviners, deeming it unnecessary to even utter a word of comment. In his mind, those wizards were all just for show…

Did I mean that?

Ryan's mind went blank, as if he saw a huge pot being poured over his head.

"Please wait a moment, sir. Your stenographer's quill pen does not appear to be recording accurately."

He quickly stopped the reporter, and at the same time raised his hand and pointed, and the quill pen floated up, still struggling violently in mid-air.

"No, no, no, Mr. Lane, readers have the right to know the truth. I was merely recording the facts!" the reporter said emphatically.

"Is this the truth?"

The parchment slipped from the reporter's grasp and floated away. Ryan pointed to the words on it and asked...

"These are artistic interpretations, but they all reflect the truths that countless readers care about," the reporter said smugly.

"the truth?"

"Of course, what readers need is the truth. Naturally, our readers prefer characters with conflict, ideally those who clash with existing well-known figures. This will attract readers, intensify the antagonism, and generate buzz..."

The reporter sketched out a possible blueprint: "That would be huge sums of Galleons!"

Ryan's initially stiff expression was amused. He couldn't quite understand how this clown could get into Hogwarts for an interview.

As he chuckled, the parchment spontaneously combusted without wind, burning to ashes in the blink of an eye, with a few embers drifting out through the open window.

"Mr. Lane, you are violating the readers' right to know the truth!"

Upon seeing this, the reporter suddenly stood up and instinctively blurted out his tried-and-true excuse.

Then he noticed that the shorthand quill pen in mid-air was also turning into dust little by little.

He stiffly turned his head to look at Ryan, feeling offended that a mere student dared to use such methods to establish his authority and warn him!

His voice was filled with anger: "You're threatening a reporter! This is Hogwarts! What are you doing?!"

"Yes, this is Hogwarts. What are you doing here?" Ryan retorted, standing up and approaching the somewhat stiff reporter.

The reporter glared angrily and tried to draw his wand, but he found himself as if bound, unable to move an inch, let alone reach for it.

This is impossible... The reporter was greatly shocked.

Ryan stepped forward, patted the reporter on the shoulder, dispelled the petrification spell, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Reporter, I have other matters to attend to, so I won't waste any more time here. Oh, by the way, you should be grateful that this is Hogwarts."

After saying that, he left the common room and walked out of the school.

The reporter, trembling with rage, frantically pulled out a new quill pen and began writing rapidly on the parchment, leaving heavy marks, some of which even tore the parchment apart.

As he wrote, he spewed out vicious words, cursing Ryan with every word he knew.

He muttered to himself, "A fourth-grade student! He thinks he's something just because he knows a little bit about prophecy! He actually dared to threaten me! Threaten a reporter from the Daily Prophet! Threatened a pure-blood wizard! I'll make him pay! I'll ruin his reputation!"

"Get ready to receive screams from all over the world, Ryan Wales! You'll pay for your actions!"

"Countless readers will enjoy seeing celebrities ruined, and you'll be no exception!"

"A mere fourth grader!"

"A mere fourth grader!"

The thought of his custom-made quill pen, worth a hundred gallons, being turned to ash filled the reporter with a pang of blood and fueled his rage. Although he was a pureblood, he was not born into a wealthy or powerful family, and he had only recently graduated with little savings.

The bagalon sketching quill pen was worth the equivalent of his monthly salary!

Suddenly, the reporter was stunned. He was also a student at Hogwarts. What could he have done in his fourth year?

He recalled his past self: in terms of spells, he was utterly incapable of silent or wandless casting, barely interested in popular minor curses, drowsy in spell classes, his magical energy was only average, and his understanding of various magical concepts was superficial...

But someone like him is what a normal student at Hogwarts should be like!

And the magical prowess displayed by Ryan Wales, who was just a fourth-year student... As a Slytherin graduate, the reporter was undoubtedly a pure Slytherin, possessing both ambition and shrewdness. He already knew how to polish this unsuccessful interview.

He just didn't understand why Ryan told him to be glad that this was Hogwarts.

...........

On the way to the edge of the forbidden forest.

Ryan glanced back at the castle tower, then quickly suppressed his thoughts.

As a well-known good student over the past four years, and having maintained good relationships with professors and many classmates, it's unlikely that anyone would deliberately set a trap for him. It's probably just a reporter who wants to become famous... He shook his head. After all, the magic world is a place of simple and honest people, and there wouldn't be any behavior like "If you're better than me, I'll use all sorts of means to ruin you."

In particular, the reporter's style of recording clearly indicates that he is a newcomer trained by Rita. No one would be willing to conspire with someone of this background, because they will stop at nothing to make big news.

Moreover, who would want to be an enemy of a prophet who produces a "prophecy" every two or three days?

No one can be sure whether putting these methods into practice will immediately be predicted by the prophet, and then presented as a gift to the prophet by a group of wizards who want to obtain the prophecy.

After all, prophecies are never reasonable; they're practically like divine pronouncements.

He recalled the image that abruptly appeared in his mind when he woke up yesterday morning: a desolate swamp, with dead branches trembling in the mud, and the mournful cries of crows above.

The accompanying text reads: "[Three days later, a lost mortal stumbled upon it, and thus, an epic journey unfolded. At the end of the path paved with countless alchemical techniques lies a glorious future.]"

It also has the detailed coordinates of the area, which can be used to Apparate to get there.

This is the cheat code Ryan discovered after his transmigration: daily intelligence updates. The images and text explanations that refresh precisely at eight o'clock every morning are his tools for pretending to be a prophet. He keeps the intelligence involving magical relics and items for his own use, while he often uses some intelligence that does not involve his own interests as prophecies to build his reputation.

Over the past four years, many people both inside and outside the school have benefited from his kindness, and he has built a very wide network of connections.

The only drawback was that he had too little information about his own interests, which made him a super prophet who could make a prediction every two or three days, and was recognized by wizards as the number one prophet in the world.

Predicting production output will drive competitors out of business.

For example, Professor Sibyl, who wished to remain anonymous.